Fitzgerald and Mary Henry (sister of Captain Henry)
by Styxqueen
Summary: Sister of Captain Henry considers Fitzgerald
1. Chapter 1

Fitzerald and Mary Henry

Mary Henry, sister of Captain Andrew Henry, worked as a maid and cook for the officers at Ft. Kiowa. It was not an easy place for the young, attractive woman to live. The fort was full of lonely soldiers, fur traders and various riff-raff, pretty rough characters, most of them.

Why the Captain believed that this fort in the far west was a fine place for his sister to live was something Mary could not figure out. He certainly did not think the fort was suitable for his wife. But, as their parents were both dead and Mary, at eighteen, was still unmarried, it was the Captain's wish that she accompany him to Fort Kiowa. He explained to her that it was only for a year, and then she would be returning to civilization where she would surely find a husband. She certainly wouldn't find a man to marry at Fort Kiowa, that was for certain.

Usually Mary would avoid the long stares and verbal exchanges with any of the soldiers or traders, her eyes would focus either on the ground or far off into the distance rather than risk eye contact. But, there was one man at Ft. Henry that she could not take her eyes off of, and that was Fitzgerald.

What a mystery this man was! He interested Mary for some reason, perhaps it was his gloomy moods, his edginess, or the fact that he would avoid eye contact or conversation of any kind. He never hassled her like the other men did. In fact, he was completely pre-occupied with something else. What was it that occupied his mind so totally? She couldn't tell, but it made him very mysterious and fascinating to her. He was the one person that Mary actually wanted to talk to at this God-forsaken outpost.

She saw him one morning, washing his face and head in a bucket of water in the fort yard and she watched, riveted as he put water over his scalped head. She couldn't take her eyes away. Here was a man who had been scalped and lived? What was his story? His marred head made him even more attractive in her eyes. Now she understood why he always wore the most exotic head-gear she had ever seen. Head-gear that was often the faces of actual animals that he had killed, somehow it added to his own animal magnetism.

One morning she got up the nerve to ask her brother about him.

"Andrew, why is Fitzgerald here?"

"Don't go anywhere near John Fitzgerald do you hear me? I don't trust that man. You keep clear of him."

"I just -"

"That's enough."

Mary shrugged and dropped the subject. But she was determined to talk with John (so that was his name!) at the first opportunity. She'd find a way.


	2. Chapter 2

Early on Sunday morning, when most of the men at the fort were sleeping off the previous night's bouts of drinking, Mary finally got her chance to speak with Fitzgerald alone.

As usual, Fitzgerald had spent the pre-dawn hour pacing the fort grounds in the snow. Mary had watched him do this since his arrival a few weeks back. She'd peer out her window to watch him marching in circles in the snow.

Fitzgerald spent this pre-dawn hour considering all his options, worrying about the outcomes, and wondering how soon Captain Leavenworth would arrive so that they could recover the pelts and he would receive his payment and be free to leave this fort. He also spent plenty of time justifying his actions against Hugh Glass and his son Hawk. Somewhere in the back of his mind, guilty feelings would surface now and then but he'd push those away, even if he did have nightmares about it. After about an hour of this pacing, he was finally hungry and headed towards the kitchen.

Mary was headed in his general direction, hoping to bump into him, and sure enough, they literally ran right into each other. Mary locked eyes with him and flashed her broadest smile.

"I'm sorry ma'am." Fitzgerald drawled but Mary was so intent on dazzling him with her smile that she didn't respond.

Fitzgerald blinked, looked uncomfortably from side to side and with an eyebrow raised quizzically returned her gaze.

"I said, I'm sorry."

The spell was broken. Embarrassed, she responded, "No worries, no trouble. I'm Mary Henry and you interest me Mr. Fitzgerald ."

"And how do you know who I am?" Fitzgerald asked suspiciously. He was partly amused, partly annoyed at the attention.

"My brother, Captain Henry, has mentioned you."

"And just what did he tell you about me?" Fitzgerald stared at her with an edge of menace, but, she wasn't frightened.

"He told me to stay away from you."

"That was good advice. You should stay away from me."

"And why is that," Mary asked flirtatiously, "are you dangerous?"

Fitzgerald just smiled slyly, circled back in the snow and stared and marched off in the other direction. What did this girl want from him? And what had Captain Henry told her about him? Did he have suspicions that he had shared with her?

Mary was not about to let him get away with this rudeness and swiftly followed after him.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary caught up with Fitzgerald and kept pace with him as he marched towards his quarters through the snow, looking in his eyes Mary said "tell me what makes you a dangerous man.

Fitzgerald stopped in his tracks and hands on hips stared out into the distance - the cold expanse of pine trees and snow beyond the fort walls.

Mary did not know quite how to react to his behavior so she walked around him in a circle until his eyes looked up to meet hers, then she said "you're a strange one."

John shook his head and smiled ever so slightly, before answering, "I'll tell you why I'm a dangerous man."

"Why?"

"I killed a man."

Mary's heart did not leap into her throat at this sudden revelation. Somehow, in her heart, she already knew. She continued to stare at him and calmly asked "Who did you kill, John Fitzgerald?"

"Hawk Glass, the half-Indian son of Hugh Glass, and if you must know, I left Hugh Glass to die as well. I hoped that he would die. But, I don't think he did die. I'm waiting for him to find me. A ghost, a man, I'm not sure which."

This comment did startle Mary and she stepped back pulling her eyes from Fitzgerald to look away.

"Why did you kill these men John?"

" **Because they were trying to kill me**."

Fitzgerald moved closer to Mary, his voice, a whispering growl, "I don't know why I'm confessing my sins to you. If Captain Henry knew what I'd done, he'd hang me for sure."

"But why were they trying to kill you John? Tell me why, I'd like to understand." Mary pleaded.

The innocence and ignorance of the question and the questioner made Fitzgerald feel terribly guilty and he looked away from Mary in shame. "It's a long story."


End file.
